SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office plans to go to the California Supreme Court to defend local ordinances that ban registered sex offenders from city parks.

A state appeals court on Friday struck down an Irvine law that barred registered sex offenders from city parks without written permission from police, a ruling that will become legal precedent. The court also struck down a similar Orange County law.

About a dozen other Orange County cities passed similar ordinances banning sex offenders from parks at the urging of District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. Rackauckas helped craft Orange County’s law with county Supervisor Shawn Nelson.

“Protecting children from dangerous sex offenders is an ongoing war, and we believe that it’s one of the most important jobs we have at the D.A.’s (office),” said Susan Kang Schroeder, Rackauckas’ chief of staff.

Bellucci said her organization will urge Orange County cities that adopted similar legislation to pull the laws off their books or face a lawsuit. Opponents criticize the ordinances as overly broad and an infringement on civil rights. They are “unenforceable,” Bellucci said.

“These ordinances give a false sense of security to parents. They don’t really protect their children from those who are most likely to assault their children,” Bellucci said.

County supervisors expressed varying degrees of support for an appeal. Todd Spitzer said it would be “irresponsible” to not appeal. John Moorlach said he’s not “comfortable” appealing. And Nelson said he would be open to the idea.

The Orange County ordinance, which became a model for local cities, made it a misdemeanor for any registered sex offender to enter a county park, beach or other recreational area without permission from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Those convicted would face six months in jail or a $500 fine.

In Friday’s ruling, a panel of judges said state laws regulating sex offenders pre-empt any local ordinances. State law has long overseen sex-offender registration, the opinion said.

State law already regulates where sex offenders may live and also identifies certain sex offenders who must be monitored by law-enforcement via GPS. Offenders whose victims were younger than 14 may only enter parks where children gather with permission from their parole agents.

The laws create a comprehensive system regulating sex offenders’ daily lives, the court said. No outright ban on sex offenders in parks is included in state law, an omission that “manifests a legislative determination that such a ban is not warranted,” the court said. Any such local laws undermine the decisions of the Legislature, the court said.

In the Irvine case, Jean Pierre Nguyen was taken into custody in 2012 after he went to Citrus Glen Park to play tennis. The Garden Grove resident, convicted of child annoyance in 1996 and on probation for indecent exposure, often visited the park.

In the Orange County case, the court reversed the conviction of Hugo Godinez, a registered sex offender who was arrested at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley in 2011.

Cities now have to decide their next step.

Cities such as Mission Viejo and Laguna Hills have held off enforcement pending a court ruling and are now planning to await a Supreme Court decision if the DA proceeds with an appeal to the state’s highest court.

Cypress, meanwhile, is working to negotiate settlements in two lawsuits filed by registered sex offenders. A 2012 Cypress law bars sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school, park or child care center and from appearing within 500 feet of any school, park or child care center.

In Costa Mesa, Councilwoman Wendy Leece said the city will likely repeal that community’s law.

“It’s a disappointment, but it’s not the end of the world,” she said. “I think parents today need to take more responsibility for watching their kids all the time.”

About 90 percent of child victims of sexual offenses know their offender, almost half of whom are family members, according to the state attorney general. Even with those statistics, it’s important to protect children from strangers, Schroeder said.

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